Record Store Day 2019: The biggest selling albums in indie shops of the last year

The UK’s Record Store Day 2019 is Saturday April 13, and it's set to be another day that sees the country's music fans gather to support their local indie music retailers.

It's a chance for collectors, format nerds, and basically anyone who likes something a little special, to get their hands on all kinds of deluxe editions, brand-new material, desirable rarities, or reissues of classic tracks on new formats. See the full list of over 500 exclusive Record Store Day releases here

Record Store Day is the highlight of the year for independent music shops in the UK, and has been a major factor in the increased popularity of the vinyl format. Not only that, but the resurgence of the much-loved cassette and the availability of special editions and limited releases have influenced an increase in visits to indie record stores all over the country. See what special releases a selection of record shop owners across the UK are hoping to snap up this year.

But it's not just about RSD: the tills are busy all year round. While albums by major, high-charting artists are just as popular there, sales in independent record shops also reflect the tastes of those customers who may prefer something not quite so mainstream, which allows for more niche, specialist, or heritage acts to make an appearance. 4.2 million albums were sold on vinyl in 2018, 6.6 per cent of industry income, and on the up from the previous year, and sales of music on physical formats accounted for almost £2 billion.

We unveil the biggest selling albums in indie music shops since the last Record Store Day (April 14). Our Official Record Store Chart Top 40 is posted every week here.

Coming out on top is Foals' Everything Not Saved Will be Lost: Vol 1, a huge achievement considering the album was only released in March 2019. The Oxford band's fifth studio album is the first half of a two-parter, with the second one due in September, and peaked at Number 2 on the Official Albums Chart, Foals' fourth Top 3 album.  

Arctic Monkeys have to settle for second place in our Record Store rundown of the last year, with Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, which became their sixth straight chart-topping album in the UK upon its release last May. Bristol band IDLES scored their first UK Top 40 album last September with Joy as an Act of Resistance, and it was third biggest selling album in indies over the last year.

Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett is the biggest selling international act and solo artist, coming in fourth with Tell Me How You Really Feel, her first UK Top 10 album, and Low's Double Negative is fifth.

MORE: The Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl releases of 2019 so far

George Ezra is highest ranking UK solo act, in sixth with second album Staying at Tamara's, while bestselling classic album in indie shops this year goes to the Beatles' self-titled 1968 Number 1 – more commonly known as the White Album – which was reissued in a deluxe edition for its 40th anniversary, complete with alternative takes, instrumentals and other rarities.

David Bowie and Pink Floyd are still a big hit with indie record shop fans, scoring two entries each, and the bestselling debut album on our list comes from Laura Marling and Mile Lindsay's collaborative duo Lump – their self-titled albums is 15th.

The Official Top 40 biggest selling albums in independent record stores since Record Store Day 2018:

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